The short answer, regarding literature, varies a bit depending on the source: sometimes 10 - 17, other times 12 - 18, but always generally the second decade of life.

The long answer is a frank discussion, not for the easily-offended ...

If you walk into most churches and ask about young adults, you will be directed to a social group of eighteen to thirty-five-year-olds.

If you step into any bookstore, the young adult literature will be for ten to seventeen-year-olds.

What's going on here? These two age ranges don't even overlap!

One of the primary functions of religious organizations is to design and, as far as possible, implement a set of ideals based on their beliefs. There's nothing wrong with this, but it means that many of their statements about the world are prescriptive in nature, instead of descriptive. In this case, they would like young people to not trouble themselves with "adult" concerns until about age eighteen.

Writers and publishers, on the other hand, must deal with the reality of who puts down money to buy books. Their definition of "young adult" is therefore much more a reflection of the real situation in the world.

So, what is a "young adult" in the real world?

Ironically, at about the same time that the modern religious movement in America began (mid-nineteenth century), scientists started collecting data on the age at which girls enter puberty (boys are much harder to track, but always seem to be about two years older). In the century and a half since then, the average age of female puberty in western society has dropped from sixteen to twelve.

What's going on HERE?

No one knows for sure. Higher calorie diet? Growth hormones in commercially-raised meat and dairy products? Chemical toxins in the environment? The stress of complex modern society?

Whatever the cause, the trend is real, and can't be wished away. It's usually referred to as the "secular shift," for anyone who wishes to research it further. If the AVERAGE girl is entering puberty at twelve, then many are at eleven and ten, and a few at nine, eight ...

Until a century or two ago, young adults were simply adults who were fairly young, as there was little difference in time between their physical maturity and their right to work, marry, etc.

Today, adolescents and teens find themselves in a strange period of limbo for an average of six years, often eight or ten. They are physically adults, legally children, and therefore quite confused.

In the author's work as a mental health counselor, he has to deal with this reality. Human nature, as it exists today, motivates most young people to begin their interest in "adult" concerns even before puberty. Girls in the seven-to-ten age range are mentally preparing for adulthood. With boys, it is usually nine to twelve.

A good working definition of "young adult," therefore, is primarily the second decade of life. It can begin a few years before ten, and/or linger years after twenty. A few individuals will fall outside even these loosely-defined age ranges.

Good young adult literature deals with all the important "adult" themes of human life: pain, loss, death, love, loyalty, passion, and many more. Since life is still fresh and new for young people, they seldom want to wallow in the gritty details, as adult literature often does. They're just exploring the themes and beginning to imagine where they fit into it all.

The characters in the Nebador stories span a wide range of young-adult ages. Sometimes their concerns are just what we would expect of an "average" person that age. At other times, they must reach far beyond their years, or struggle to learn lessons their age-peers learned long before.

That's human life, as it really is.

The story begins in a culture in which young adults have all the same rights and responsibilities as adults. That culture is simply too poor to give adolescents and teens the luxury of an extended childhood. The author chose this setting because, unlike many other young-adult novels, this story is not about adult/youth power struggles. It is about other things, as the reader will see.

The author, of course, respects those parents who wish to shield their sons and daughters from the themes of young-adult literature, which are, after all, essentially adult themes. He wishes them luck.

-- J. Z. Colby

"Unburdened by ponderous beliefs, young eyes are quick to see and understand what can be said in no other way."

-- Rachael Hedges, cover artist

Book One:
The Test
Spring 2010